Elizabeth Warren Locks Herself Into Bernie’s Medicare for All: ‘That’s My Plan’

Massachusetts Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren locked herself in on Bernie Sanders’ specific “Medicare for All” plan in a post-debate interview, despite recent signals of a pivot away from that plan.

The most consequential moment of debate night may have come long after the podia were vacated, as Warren sat for an interview with CNN’s post-debate panel of analysts. It was just a few seconds during a lengthy segment in which the group took turns failing to get Warren to say taxes will go up for middle-class families under the plan, but it could have strong political ripples.

During this interview, Warren had already echoed her previous feints at a pivot away from Sanders’ plan, calling Medicare for All “the right approach,” but former Obama adviser David Axelrod got the senator to remove all doubt.

“Are you saying that the Medicare for All bill that is in the Senate, that you signed on to, Bernie Sanders’ bill, is the plan that you are running on, and the plan that you will try and implement when you become, if you become president of the United States, you’re not going to have your own plan, you’re satisfied with Sander’s plan?”

“That’s my plan,” Warren said. “I think it’s a good plan.”

That few seconds means that Warren has now made explicit a promise that has been heavily implied until now, but which contained a smidgen of wiggle room. The consequences of that promise will have to play out, but it means any eventual pivot can be seen as a betrayal by supporters of Sanders’ plan and a flip-flop by everyone else.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.